# Question about The Crying Game **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 11, 2006, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-crying-game/368241 "2006-08-11T02:21:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-crying-game/368241/41 "2006-08-12T01:49:58Z")
I saw it on VHS not long after it came out. I’d heard there was some big surprise, but had no idea what it was, and I went to great lengths to avoid learning about it. And then I’m watching the Simpsons one Sunday (or was this when they were on Thursdays?), and Mayor Quimby says in a speech to the townspeople: > [@](#): > > Let the word go forth from this time and place, Marge Simpson is a shop lifter. In other news, the chick in _The Crying Game_ is really a man. > > [_Crowd boos._] > > I mean, man, is that a good movie. Dammit. So yeah, when I saw it, I couldn’t help but give each woman who came on screen the gender-based once-over, and I spotted her/him immediately. And you know what spoiled _Citizen Kane_ for me? That stupid “The Homecoming Queen’s Got a Gun” song by (non-Downtown) Julie Brown. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-crying-game/368241/42 "2006-08-12T02:16:51Z")
[QUOTE=jackelope] And you know what spoiled _Citizen Kane_ for me? That stupid “The Homecoming Queen’s Got a Gun” song by (non-Downtown) Julie Brown. [/QUOTE] I think for me it was an old _Peanuts_ comic strip. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-crying-game/368241/43 "2006-08-12T02:31:52Z")
[QUOTE=Unauthorized Cinnamon] Personally, I went to see the movie when a friend asked, “Wanna go see a movie about the IRA?” and that was all I knew going in. [/QUOTE] Exactly. Going back and watching it again, you can see something very different in Forrest Whitacker’s lines while he is being held captive, especially the set up of Dill and Fergus. A bit of fun revenge for a man who knows he is going to die. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-crying-game/368241/44 "2006-08-12T03:12:24Z")
I can only think of the scene in Ace Ventura where Jim Carey finds out he’d actually been in a similar situation, and they are playing “the Crying Game” for background music. hh ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-crying-game/368241/45 "2006-08-12T03:17:14Z")
[QUOTE=Ethilrist] Ah, good. Now we’ve completed the Jaye Davidson career retrospective, from start to finish. [/QUOTE] Boy, (pun intended) you got that right. I’m 1/3 of the way through this thread, went and hit imdb and man! (pun intended) His career went turgid. Any idea what he’s doing now? Real Estate, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-crying-game/368241/46 "2006-08-12T06:20:52Z")
Jaye Davidson just quit the movie business. Which is what you would expect from reading his IMDB profile - if his career just went sour, you would see a bunch of smaller and smaller roles in his job history. He was nominated for an Academy Award and could have found some work if he really wanted to. The word on the internet seems to be that he went back to being a fashion assistant. [http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/where\_are\_they\_now/31800](http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/where_are_they_now/31800) ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-crying-game/368241/47 "2006-08-12T10:57:25Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] IIRC, at the point when Fergus (Stephen Rea’s IRA member) finally gets down to business with Dil (Jaye Davidson), they do a slow pan down Dil’s body as Fergus undresses her, eventually revealing the meat and potatoes. As a gay man, I’ve always found his reaction a tad extreme and more than a little drama-queeny, but… [/QUOTE] Dill was a transvestite? :eek: Hey, that means I **finally** understand that _To Kill a Mockingbird_ thread! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-crying-game/368241/48 "2006-08-12T12:55:06Z")
Dill was a transspeciesite. She dressed as a ham. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-crying-game/368241/49 "2006-08-12T13:02:55Z")
[QUOTE=Johanna] Dill was a transspeciesite. She dressed as a ham. [/QUOTE] That was Scout. Dill was based on Truman Copote and, as I read in a thread once, he was always trying to get Boo to “come out.” ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-crying-game/368241/50 "2006-08-20T17:02:42Z")
[QUOTE=holmes] **Question** : Why didn’t the bartender tell Fergus? He knew oe at least suspected that Fergus didn’t know and clearly wanted to let him know what to expect. [/QUOTE] The bartender _did_ try to tell Fergus. It was the second time he was at the bar, and he was looking for Dil. Fergus starts talking about Dil to the bartender, and the bartender says, “There’s something you should know about her. She’s…” At that moment, the music starts and Dil begins her singing act. Because of this distraction, the bartender drops what he was going to say and simply says, “She’s on.” ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-crying-game/368241/51 "2006-08-20T17:03:51Z")
I should also add that after the first time Fergus goes out with Dil, the bartender probably assumes that Fergus learned about her gender, so he doesn’t bring up the subject again. ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-crying-game/368241/52 "2006-08-20T17:05:54Z")
Would someone put “Spoiler” in the title of this thread? The “surprise” was ruined for me before I saw this movie, so I’ll never know whether I would have guessed or not. This bugs me a little. I’ve known several transgendered M -\> F people, so I think I would have known, but who knows. ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-crying-game/368241/53 "2006-08-20T18:36:51Z")
[QUOTE=JillGat] Would someone put “Spoiler” in the title of this thread? The “surprise” was ruined for me before I saw this movie, so I’ll never know whether I would have guessed or not. This bugs me a little. I’ve known several transgendered M -\> F people, so I think I would have known, but who knows. [/QUOTE] Well, sure. It would be perfectly reasonable and polite for the OP to put [spoiler] in the title, but come on. The movie is ten years old, and it contains one of the most notorious “twists” in cinema history. Kudos for avoiding the secret so long, but if it was so important for you to see it unspoiled, why not do so before now? ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-crying-game/368241/54 "2006-08-20T18:37:03Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl] Exactly. Going back and watching it again, you can see something very different in Forrest Whitacker’s lines while he is being held captive, especially the set up of Dill and Fergus. A bit of fun revenge for a man who knows he is going to die. [/QUOTE] Just as a sidejack, I loved the beginning of this film; Whitacker’s (sp?) interaction with Fergus, and his captivity and the rather… Uhm… Surprising… End of it I found to be a fantastic bit of writing. The ‘surprise’ seemed like a very small part (no pun intended) of the film compared to the rest of the plot. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-crying-game/368241/55 "2006-08-20T19:17:52Z")
Well, I for one was completely shocked. I was about 15 when I saw it, and I’m embarassed to admit I almost threw up when the big moment came, I was so surprised. Maybe I would have been able to see it coming if I had been a bit older when I saw it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-crying-game/368241.md?page=2)